The Museum of Modern Art Z ^MEDIATE RELEASE H West 53 Street, New York, N.Y. 10019 Tel. 956-6100 Cable: Modernart

FELIX THE CAT

Felix the Cat and his creator Otto Messmer will be honored with two special programs of their cartoons at The Museum of Modern Art on Sunday, April 25 at noon and 3:00 p.m. Messmer will be present at the 3:00 screen­ ing. The programs will be repeated on Monday, April 26 and Tuesday, April 27 at noon.

Felix the Cat, created in 1921, became one of the most popular screen

figures of his time, rivaled only by Chaplin, and it has been estimated

that at one time three quarters of the world population either had seen him

or knew him by name. His creator, however, has remained virtually unknown.

The rights to the character belonged to Pat Sullivan, owner of the studio

where Felix was created, and Sullivan's name alone appeared on every Felix

film. Only now, with the Museum's special programs and another running

from April 20 through April 25 at The Whitney Museum of American Art, is

Otto Messmer finally beginning to receive the recogintion he deserves.

Messmer is 83 and lives in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Among the films which will be shown in the Museum's program are "Felix

in Comical ami ties," "Felix Woos Whoopee," and "Felix Dopes it Out." The two

70-minute programs have been selected by Mark Langer. All showings will be

accompanied by piano music by William Perry.

The liveliness and unique humor of the Felix cartoons have been recog­

nized and appreciated ever sence he first appeared. Felix was one of the

first cartoons whose appeal was based not only on its gags, but on a contin­

uing development of its main character. Marcel Brion of the Academie Francaise

wrote of Felix in 1928, "He has escaped the reality of the cat; he 1s made up

of an extraordinary personality." ************************************************ Additional information available from Michael Boodro, Assistant, and Lillian Gerard, Special Projects Coordinator, Department of Public Information, The Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53 St., New York, NY 10019, Phone: (212) 956-7296: 7504